scholarly journals Debate as a pedagogical tool for developing speaking skills in second language education

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110506
Author(s):  
Abid el Majidi ◽  
Rick de Graaff ◽  
Daniel Janssen

Many secondary school students’ second language (L2) speaking skills suffer from deficiencies; the effects thereof are detrimental to their academic and career opportunities in a globalized world that highlights the importance of oral communication skills. Debate has been considered a potentially effective speaking pedagogical tool that can scaffold learning processes in ways that can lead to language development. This study investigates the effect of a debate intervention on English L2 speaking competence of Dutch secondary school students. Following a pretest–posttest control group design, we elicited speech samples from opinion tasks which we coded in terms of measures of speech quantity, fluency, complexity, accuracy and cohesion. Multilevel analysis results indicate that after the intervention, the intervention group produced more language which was more fluent, accurate, coherent and lexically more sophisticated relative to the control group. These findings, which have significant implications for L2 speaking development, are discussed in relation to specific characteristics of L2 debate pedagogy.

Retos ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Pedro Ángel Latorre Román ◽  
José Carlos Cámara Pérez ◽  
Antonio Pantoja Vallejo

El objetivo del estudio es analizar los efectos de la implantación de un Programa de Educación para la Seguridad en las actividades físico-deportivas escolares (ESAFE) sobre los factores psicológicos y de personalidad relacionados con el accidente deportivo en escolares de Educación Secundaria. Los participantes de este estudio son escolares de Educación Secundaria de un IES de la provincia de Jaén. El total de sujetos fue de 149 alumnos (Edad= 13.62 años, DT= 1.22). Mediante un ensayo controlado fueron distribuidos en un grupo control (73 participantes, Edad= 13.60 años, DT= 1.22) y otro experimental (76 participantes, Edad= 13.64 años, DT= 1.24). Las variables analizadas han sido la búsqueda de sensaciones, la percepción del riesgo, propensión al accidente y por otro lado el número de lesiones y accidentes. Los resultados muestran que tras la intervención, las diferencias postest-pretest son significativamente mayores (p<0.001) en seguridad pasiva y activa y en la escala total de seguridad en el grupo experimental. El programa ESAFE ha sido capaz de reducir de manera significativa (p<0.05) la búsqueda de sensaciones en el deporte. El programa ESAFE se puede emplear como un recurso educativo en la sensibilización sobre los riesgos presentes en las actividades físico-deportivas escolares y por lo tanto en la educación de la seguridad. Sería interesante su incorporación en la práctica de los docentes de Educación Física, tanto en la evaluación inicial como durante el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje.Palabras clave: educación, seguridad, deporte escolar, búsqueda de sensaciones, percepción del riesgo.Abstract: The purpose of the study is to analyze the effects of the implementation of an Education Program for Safety in physical and sport activities on psychological and personality factors related to accidents as a result of sport of Secondary Education students. Participants in this study were Secondary School students, students who were in 1st and 3rd year from a Secondary School in the province of Jaen. The total number of participants were 149 students (age= 13.62 years, SD = 1.22). By means of a controlled trial they were divided into a control group (73 participants, age = 13.60 years, SD = 1.22) and into an intervention group (76 participants, age = 13.64 years, SD = 1.24). The variables analyzed were sensation seeking, risk perception, propensity of accident and the number of injuries and accidents. Results show that after the intervention of the ESAFE program, pretest-posttest differences are significantly higher (p<0.001) in the two scales of safety and in the full scale of the intervention group. The ESAFE program has been able to reduce significantly (p<0.05) sensation seeking in sport. In conclusion, the ESAFE program can be used as an educational resource in raising awareness of the risks involved in physical and sports activities in school and, therefore, in safety education. So it would be interesting to incorporate it into the practice of PE teachers both in the initial evaluation and during the whole process of teaching and learning.Keywords: education, safety, school sport, sensation seeking, risk perception.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Amoah ◽  
Salmiah Md S ◽  
Lekhraj Rampal ◽  
Rosliza A Manaf ◽  
Normala Ibrahim ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Globally, cardiovascular disease (CVD) was responsible for 17.5 million deaths, accounting for 46.2% non-communicable disease deaths. In Ghana CVDs has been the leading cause of adult death since 2001. Prevalence of CVD risk factors among adolescents in Ghana has been increasing. Objective of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a health education intervention program to reduce CVD risk factors among students. Methods A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with a school as cluster over a period of six-months with pre and post intervention evaluations. Participants were public secondary school students (14-19 years) from four schools in Brong Ahafo, Ghana. Students in the intervention group were trained by the researchers whereas those of the control group received no intervention. The intervention included health education and physical activity modules. Follow-up data using same questionnaire were collected within two weeks after the intervention was completed. Intention-to-treat analysis was performed after replacing missing values using multiple imputation method. The generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) was used to assess the effects of the intervention. Results Of the 848 study participants, 836 completed the final assessment at six-month. The GLMM showed the intervention was significant in attaining 0.77(p<0.001), 0.72(p<0.001), 0.47(p<0.001), 0.56(p<0.001), and 0.39(p=0.045) higher physical activity, fruits, vegetables, seafood, and water scores respectively for the intervention group over the control group. The intervention was also significant in reducing -0.15(p<0.001), -0.23(p<0.001), -0.50(p<0.001), -0.32(p<0.001), -0.90(p<0.001),-0.87(p<0.001),-0.38(p<0.001),-0.63(p<0.001),-1.63(p<0.001),-0.61(p<0.001),and -1.53(p=0.005) carbohydrates, fats and oils, fried eggs, fried chicken, carbonated drinks, sugar, sweet snacks, salted fish, weight, BMI, and diastolic BP. The ‘’odds’’ of quitting alcohol use in the intervention group was 1.06 times more than in control group. There was no significant effect of the intervention on reducing systolic BP. Conclusions The intervention had positive effect on increasing physical activity, promoting healthy diet, reducing alcohol consumption, weight, BMI, and diastolic BP among students in the intervention arm of the study but had no effect on systolic BP. Findings from this study is recommended to be adopted in the educational curricula in secondary schools. Keywords: Cardiovascular disease, risk factors, behavioral modification intervention, secondary school students, adolescents


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259581
Author(s):  
John Amoah ◽  
Salmiah Said ◽  
Lekhraj Rampal ◽  
Rosliza Manaf ◽  
Normala Ibrahim ◽  
...  

Background Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number cause of death worldwide. In Ghana CVD has been the leading cause of death since 2001. The prevalence of CVD risk factors among adolescents in Ghana has been increasing. This study seeks to develop, implement and evaluate the effects of a behavioral modification intervention program to reduce CVD risk factors among secondary school students in Brong Ahafo, Ghana. Methods A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted with schools as clusters over a period of six-months with pre and post intervention evaluations. Participants were public secondary school students (14–19 years) from four schools in Brong Ahafo, Ghana. Students in the intervention group were trained by the researchers whereas those of the control group received no intervention. The intervention included health education and physical activity modules. Follow-up data using same questionnaire were collected within two weeks after the intervention was completed. Intention-to-treat analysis was performed after replacing missing values using the multiple imputation method. The generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) was used to assess the effects of the intervention study. Results The GLMM analyses showed the intervention was effective in attaining 0.77(p<0.001), 0.72(p<0.001), 0.47(p<0.001), 0.56(p<0.001), and 0.39(p = 0.045) higher total physical activity, fruits, vegetables, seafood, and water scores respectively for the intervention group over the control group. The intervention was also significant in reducing -0.15(p<0.001),-0.23(p<0.001),-0.50(p<0.001),-0.32(p<0.001),-0.90(p<0.001),-0.87(p<0.001),-0.38(p<0.001), -0.63(p<0.001), -1.63(p<0.001), 0.61(p<0.001), and -1.53(p = 0.005) carbohydrates, fats and oils, fried eggs, fried chicken, carbonated drinks, sugar, sweet snacks, salted fish, weight, BMI, and diastolic BP. The odds of quitting alcohol use in the intervention group were 1.06 times more than the control group. There was no significant effect on reducing smoking and systolic BP. Conclusion There is an urgent need for the intervention program to be integrated into the existing curriculum structure of secondary school schools. Implementing the intervention will allow for longer and more consistent impact on the reduction of CVD risk factors among secondary school students.


2021 ◽  
pp. 025576142110059
Author(s):  
Alican Gülle ◽  
Cenk Akay ◽  
Nezaket Bilge Uzun

Kodály-inspired pedagogy enables students to participate effectively in a music course by engaging in active musical interactions with folk songs and melodies. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of Kodály-inspired pedagogy on recorder performance and attitudes toward music of secondary school students. A quasi-experimental design was used in the study. The experimental group was taught using Kodály-inspired pedagogy and the control group using the general music teaching methods for 9 weeks. A two-way mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA) and content analysis were used to analyze the data. A Recorder Performance Grading Key, music course attitude scale, and open-ended questions were used to collect the data. Consequently, the findings indicated that Kodály-inspired pedagogy had a significant effect on the students’ recorder performance but the researchers could not find a significant effect on students’ attitudes toward the music course. Moreover, students in the experimental group reported improvement in their recorder performance and attitudes toward music education. The researchers recommended including information about the implementation of Kodály-inspired pedagogy in music teacher textbooks, providing in-service training for teachers to enable them to use Kodály-inspired pedagogy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Lombardi ◽  
Daniela Traficante ◽  
Roberta Bettoni ◽  
Ilaria Offredi ◽  
Mirta Vernice ◽  
...  

Reading and writing skills influence the social status of students, exerting effects not only on learning, but also on wellbeing. This study aimed to assess the impact of diagnosis of specific learning disorder on well-being in secondary-school students, comparing students with a diagnosis of specific learning disorder (SLD-group), students showing learning difficulties without diagnosis (LD-group) and students without learning difficulties (control-group). Students were tested with neuropsychological screening tests in order to identify learning difficulties and were further assessed by means of psychological and school well-being questionnaires. The results show that LD group perceive themselves as having a low sense of mastery and autonomy, less interest and engagement in daily activities and low peer social support than their schoolmates. This result highlights, for the LD group, a low well-being experience, which is not observed in the SLD and control groups. On the contrary, SLD group students do not differ from control group students in any dimensions except for the perceived parents’ support and involvement in school life, in which the SLD group show the highest scores. This work underlines the importance of having a diagnosis as it seems to work as a protective factor for both the psychological and school well-being of the student.


Author(s):  
Julius B. Apidogo ◽  
Johannes Burdack ◽  
Wolfgang I. Schöllhorn

A variety of approaches have been proposed for teaching several volleyball techniques to beginners, ranging from general ball familiarization to model-oriented repetition to highly variable learning. This study compared the effects of acquiring three volleyball techniques in parallel with three approaches. Female secondary school students (N = 42; 15.6 ± 0.54 years) participated in a pretest for three different volleyball techniques (underhand pass, overhand pass, and overhead serve) with an emphasis on accuracy. Based on their results, they were parallelized into three practice protocols, a repetitive learning group (RG), a differential learning group (DG), and a control group (CG). After a period of six weeks with 12 intervention sessions, all participants attended a posttest. An additional retention test after two weeks revealed a statistically significant difference between DG, RG, and CG for all single techniques as well as the combined multiple technique. In each technique—the overhand pass, the underhand pass, the overhand service, and the combination of the three techniques—DG performed best (each p < 0.001).


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Afolasade Airat Sulaiman ◽  
Stella Ihuoma Uhuegbu

This study examined the impact of cognitive restructuring and token economy techniques on the reduction of truancy among secondary school students in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a pre-test, post-test, control group design with a multistage sampling technique as the sampling method. Judgmental sampling technique was used to select two from the six Education Districts in Lagos State, simple random sampling technique was adopted to select six schools; three schools from each of the two Education Districts and 170 truants out of the 216 randomly selected based on the class attendance register completed the study. Truancy Behaviour Questionnaire (TBQ) with a reliability index of .87 was the instrument for the study. Data were analysed and presented with descriptive and ANOVA statistics at .05 level of significance. Findings showed that the two techniques were effective for the reduction of truancy but the token economy technique had a better effect. Sex had no significant effect on the reduction of truancy but females play truants more than males. Based on the findings, the token economy therapy was recommended as an ideal technique for counselling and guiding students against truancy.


Author(s):  
Wafa Abed M Al-Harbi, Sanaa Saleh Askool

This study aims to identify the effectiveness of participation in a blog for extra-curricular activities for developing the critical thinking skills of third secondary students in Jeddah. The sample consisted of (100) students from several schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia randomly selected and divided into (50) experimental group, (50) control group. The study used the Semi-experimental method and conducted the Watson and Glaser test for critical thinking. The results of the study showed that there were statistically significant differences (0.05) among the experimental group (individual and cooperative) For the officer in the brother Bar dimensional test critical thinking skills for the benefit of the experimental group because of its effect for the use of a typical blog (single, cooperative).


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (32) ◽  
pp. 260
Author(s):  
Ernest-Ehibudu Ijeoma Regina ◽  
Wayii Augustine Lezorgia

This study was developed and conducted to test the effect of cognitive restructuring in the management of mathophobia (that is, Mathematics anxiety) among secondary school students in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. To guide the study, two research questions and two null hypotheses were formulated for testing at 0.05 level of significance. In executing the study, the pre-test, post-test, and control group experimental research design was adopted using a randomized sample of 120 SS2 students drawn from three public secondary schools only. The researchers developed an instrument titled “Mathematics Diagnostic Questionnaire” (MDQ) which was adequately assessed for validity and reliability and was used in collecting pre-test and post-test data for the cognitive restructuring and control groups. Data analysis was done using mean, and standard deviation for the research questions, while independent sample and paired sample t-test were used for the hypotheses. The result obtained showed that the cognitive restructuring was significantly effective in the management of mathophobia among secondary school students. There is a slight reduction in the effect of cognitive restructuring during follow-up; there is a statistical significant difference in the mathophobic level of students treated with cognitive restructuring and those in the control group. Based on the major findings, recommendations were made among which is that functional guidance and counselling centers be established at all educational levels and be manned by professional counsellors who are competent in cognitive restructuring techniques to assist those who have mathophobia and other maladaptive behaviours. Suggestions for further study were made.


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